


Grey - Between Black and White

by Anonymous



Category: Real Person Fiction, Video Blogging RPF, Youtuber RPF
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Ambiguous Slash, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Can be read as gen, CrankGameplays - Freeform, Ethan Nestor's Alters, Gen Slash, Krymménos, M/M, Markiplier - Freeform, Reality Bending, Reality Warping, Shippy Gen, Unus Annus, Unus Annus - Markiplier, Unus Annus - Youtube, YouTube, crankiplier - Freeform, no explicit content, no explicit romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:47:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27412201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: It was still disorienting, to stand there while his reflection moved around, independent of him. To see his own body like an outsider, listening to his own voice without ever moving his mouth."You always look like its the first time," Unus remarked languidly, hands tucked in his pockets as he peered out at Ethan.
Relationships: Ethan Nestor & Unus, Mark Fischbach & Ethan Nestor, Mark Fischbach & Unus, Mark Fischbach/Ethan Nestor
Comments: 10
Kudos: 161
Collections: Anonymous





	Grey - Between Black and White

**Author's Note:**

> As always, this work is intended creatively and is in no way an accurate depiction of nor intended in any disrespect towards the persons mentioned; their family; friends; representatives or significant others. Please do not send this work to any of the afore mentioned persons.  
> Treat people with kindness, always.
> 
> After writing Meet Me In Black I've been hit with the inspiration to keep putting out works surrounding the theme of Unus and Annus existing as separate entities. This is just one work of many more to come. If I write enough I may well just create a collection to connect them all. This work is not affiliated with Meet Me In Black.  
> The sentence that Ethan speaks translates to 'show me the truth, bare my soul, remember death'.  
> -JJH

His heart thumped in his ears and his breathing rattled around his skull as he slipped into the spare room, sliding the door shut and double checking the lock. 

He hated this. 

It thrilled him. 

The mirror was like any other, tall and wide and designed to give a full view of the person using it. When he tentatively stepped up it his reflection stared back at him with wide, wild eyes. 

"Fuck" he muttered softly, wringing his fingers in the hem of his shirt. He looked nervous even to himself, fidgeting in front of the mirror, hair messy where he'd raked his fingers through it over and over. He looked wild, keyed up, caught somewhere between the rush of doing something he shouldn't and the fear of getting caught. He looked at the door handle again, hit with the urge to check it was locked once more. 

He looked back up at the mirror. 

Now or never. 

Or, well. Now, or whenever he next worked up the courage. 

He dipped a hand into his pocket. The stone was perfectly round and smooth to the touch, and he traced the black spiral pattern without having to look. He knew it off by heart, now. He carried it with him everywhere and the rune had become something of a focal point for him, the eye of the storm. He risked one more glance at the door, then the mirror, then closed his eyes. 

_"Ostende mihi veritatem. Nudis anima mea. Momento mori"._

He reached out blindly and tapped the mirror lightly with his index finger. The glass felt cold and smooth under his touch, like the stone, and he let his hand drop, fingers twitching restlessly at his side. 

"You can open your eyes now". 

He did, snapping them open like being abruptly awakened. His own reflection stared back at him, then tipped its head and smiled slowly at him. He watched it and became aware of the fact that he had stopped breathing, and he sucked in a sharp burst of air, fingers clenching at his thigh. It was still disorienting, to stand there while his reflection moved around, independent of him. To see his own body like an outsider, listening to his own voice without ever moving his mouth. 

"You always look like its the first time," Unus remarked languidly, hands tucked in his pockets as he peered out at Ethan. It made the young vlogger shuffle on the spot, teeth catching on his tongue as he stared. He _felt_ like it was the first time. The first time he realised he wasn't _just_ dreaming when he'd first been faced with Unus. The _real_ Unus. When he'd first been guided through the process of finding the stone, saying the words. 

It was the eighth time, now. But it never felt any different. It never felt like it was real. 

"Today's video. Its Un-- Its you. And him. We agreed," he fumbled out, rubbing his thumb in idle circles over the smooth face of the stone. He and Mark had planned this video a few days ago, working out the script and vowing to keep it a short one. A filler, really. To give them time to film the other longer videos that were coming up, now that the channel was officially in its last 14 days. 

_We're just gonna sit at the pool in the suits and tell them about the Live. Maybe do a little 'Unus and Annus' wall break or something._

Mark's exact words. 

Unus had only ever been out of the mirror twice before. 

His reflection narrowed its eyes at him, leering critically before it placed a hand against the mirror like one might a wall, bending a leg and tipping his head in thought. "You're bothered by something," Unus deduced, looking moderately curious. Ethan blew out a breath and resisted a sarcastic comment. He _was_ bothered. Even someone who didn't know him only had to glance at him for a few seconds to see that. 

Unus smiled. 

"You're still afraid I'm going to lock you in here". 

Guilty. 

The Alter clicked its tongue thoughtfully and turned away, strolling from the mirror to sit on the bottom corner of the bed. Ethan twitched to turn around before collecting himself. He knew if he turned, there would be no black-clad figure on the edge of the bed. Just empty space. Unus leaned forwards, elbows braced on his knees, hands dangling loose as he looked across at Ethan.

It was how this...This _thing_ worked. Unus was a part of him, separate but still connected. At first, it was only the dreams. Spirals and mirrors and ticking clocks. Then his own form, a whole new identity they'd supposedly manifested during all this Latin and death and fucking around with ghosts. 

_The mirror is a door_ , Unus had said, during one such 'dream'. Which had somewhere along the line crossed the border between dream and reality, entering a whole new space of time and existence. Any mirror would do, as long as he had the stone (which Unus had given him in a 'dream', and which he had woken up in bed holding) and said the words, then touched its surface. 

_You'd be surprised at how flexible reality truly is, little Ethan Darling._

"I don't know that you won't," he replied stubbornly after a moment. That was the catch, see. They couldn't both exist at once. Reality was flexible, but not _that_ flexible, apparently. There were rules. 

They had to switch places. Him there and Unus here. 

That world was so empty. So quiet. Time passed differently there. 

Sometimes he wondered if time passed at all. 

Unus said nothing. Just smiled at him, demure and quiet. That was the dead giveaway between them, the lone thing that set the apart. Ethan was loud and twitchy and full of life, and Unus was sedate, calm, quiet. The parts of him he sometimes wished he had more of. Less annoying, less obtrusive. 

Would Mark like him more, that way?

"Your Latin still needs practise," Unus stated eventually, rising slowly to his feet. Ethan pulled a face and took a small step back, heart rabbiting. He never felt ready. It was like how he imagined you felt right before jumping out of a plane; standing on the edge looking down at all those thousands of miles to fall. Putting your trust and life in a single object or person to get you down to the bottom safely. 

Unus approached again, hands in his pockets, leaning forwards and bent a little as he stared out at Ethan. "Doors open both ways, darling". 

"You only gave me the key to one side," he whispered, fear leeching through his veins. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to disappear while something else walked around with his face. And Unus did nothing to ever soothe those fears. The Alter was cryptic and often spoke in riddles, rarely giving him a straight answer about anything. 

Especially not Annus. 

It stood to reason that if Unus was real, then so was Annus. Unless...Unless Ethan was losing his mind. Unless this was some hallucination or mind break or multiple personality disorder shining through the cracks. Except Unus would never give him a straight answer about it, talking in tongues or straight up ignoring the question. Ethan supposed that was answer enough - Anyone who wouldn't give an outright 'no' typically had something to hide. 

But then again...Unus wasn't exactly _human_. Ethan shuffled on the spot, cuffing his heel against the carpeted floor. The stone suddenly felt cold and heavy in his pocket, like an anchor. Unus was still watching him, and when he looked up again the Alter smiled slowly. 

"Tick-tock, tick-tock, Ethan," the Alter chided, head tipping a little. He was right - Mark was waiting on him to film the video. 

Would he know it wasn't Ethan? Did he care enough to spot the differences? 

"Okay," he breathed out shakily, nails digging into his thigh before he raised a hand, pressing it against the flat of the glass opposite where Unus' palm lay. The world seemed to shift around him, taking on a black and white, swirling haze. He felt that familiar strange feeling in his gut, that swooping sensation when the world dropped out from beneath your feet or you narrowly avoided disaster. He blinked, and found himself in the Other World. 

The world around him wasn't _quite_ right, from this side. Everything seemed almost fluid, like water, a slight shifting ripple that you couldn't steady no matter how hard or long you stared. None of the clocks ticked here, time frozen still. Everything felt suspended, like held breath. It was an eerie quiet, an emptiness that he hadn't dared to explore. _Couldn't_ , in cases like this. The door was always locked, and he didn't have the key. 

Unus took his palm away from the mirror and breathed in deeply, reaching up to adjust his tie. Ethan watched it from the Other World, letting his palm slowly drop. It felt even stranger to be here; to see Unus there. To know that he was no longer in his own reality space; an onlooker of his own life from some hidden pocket in time and reality. He watched Unus fix his hair and his sleeves, watched him smooth down the front of his suit and preen in the mirror. 

"You'll come back for me, right?" He whispered anxiously, and Unus blinked through the mirror at him. The Alter was silent for the longest time, merely staring. Ethan began to feel hollowed out, chipped away into an empty husk of what he once was. 

He wouldn't. Unus _wouldn't_. _He couldn't leave him here._

"You still have time left," Unus spoke after a moment, reaching out to brush his fingertips lightly against the mirror. "But the clock is always ticking in this world, Ethan," he added sombrely, then he turned on his heel, unlocking the door and stepping out, loose into the world. 

Ethan sat down on the corner of the bed and waited.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has commented on my works so far and everyone who has been so wonderfully encouraging and engaging. As always I welcome works linked to or inspired by my own. This work is tagged as ship to lend to the ambiguous nature of what Unus could possibly get up to when set loose in the 'real' world. My apologies if this annoys anybody.  
> -JJH


End file.
